. . .because Morris, Minnesota, is a pleasant, quiet, safe yet intellectually stimulating place on the west central Minnesota prairie, home of the U of M-Morris and a whole lot of interesting people. - morris mn

"You'll never get ahead if you don't take care of what you have." - Doris Waddell, RIP

A historic building on our U of M-Morris campus - morris mn

The multi-ethnic building was the original home of the music department at UMM. (B.W. photo)

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

A boomer's memory includes a dark side

I remember when a former Minnesota Daily cartoonist came to UMM to
give a presentation. It wasn't Steve Sack or that Ohman fellow. This was
very early in my print media career, so a good guess as to the year
would be 1979.

Those were much more relaxed times. We wouldn't think of getting pulled over and given a seat belt ticket.

The artist's presentation was at Edson Auditorium, then part of a
building that was bare bones compared to today. No Oyate Hall. No
computer-study lounge, because there were no personal computers.

This visiting artist, last name of Wagner, came to the downtown
newspaper office during the day to suggest some coverage would be nice.
That wouldn't happen today because the UMM website would accommodate
everything. How could UMM function without a website? Well it did, and
it did so quite nicely.

I remember when someone in the P.E. department told me Brian Curtis
was getting "burned out" doing the SID work. I had to shake my head
because just a few years earlier, UMM didn't have an SID. So now, it was
necessary for someone to get "burned out" doing it?

I remember when working for the Morris newspaper was a pretty
relaxed proposition. Somehow everything in our society had to shift into
a hyper mode where it certainly is now.

I covered the cartoonist's presentation at Edson. He came up to me
afterward and said he barely knew I was there, because I "fit right in."
I could still look and act the part of a college student.

There was no PowerPoint then. So, what Mr. Wagner showed us on a
screen was "slides." One was of a cartoon from National Review. National
Review was a pioneering conservative publication that had a reputation
for high-mindedness. William F. Buckley in fact gained high stature
partly because of pushing aside a lot of the backwater and ignorant
conservative thought (e.g. the Birchers).

National Review wasn't high-minded enough for college students in
the year 1979. At that time, I assure you, conservatives and Republicans
were highly marginalized on college campuses. I say this not as a
conservative who is resentful. I am in fact a Democrat. But I am a
social observer by my innate nature.

The visiting cartoonist spoke in a mocking way - young people at
that time could really mock - about a National Review cartoon. It showed
someone smoking a marijuana cigarette. Mr. Wagner was proud to note in a
dismissive way that the guy in the cartoon wasn't holding the "joint"
right. There were strict norms that young people of that time adhered
to.

You had to try to be "cool." There was a certain way to hold a
"joint." And of course the National Review cartoonist, a very un-hip
sort because of his affiliation, wouldn't understand this. Sigh.

I personally and privately rejected a lot of the norms my
generation subscribed to in the '70s and slightly beyond. It was tough
to not go along with any of it. I suspect a lot of kids did quietly go
their own way. They found a way to just keep to themselves. In fact, the
majority of any young generation is probably like this. It's the
minority that defines a certain generation with symbols and excesses of
various kinds. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I was forced in at least one environment to hang around peers who
had the questionable habits such as smoking weed. Another bad habit was
to play rock music on the stereo so loud, that today most of them
probably require hearing aids.

It's possible the marijuana smoking had long-term effects too,
along with alcohol which became legal for 18-year-olds in Minnesota for a
time. I seem to recall the shift in drinking age happening as I
graduated from high school in 1973. We were excited about being able to
go into bars. I did this in Detroit Lakes. The first drink I ordered was
a Tom Collins.

I wish I hadn't bothered with any of this foolishness. Marijuana
was a curiosity that had no benefits for anyone. Somehow my generation
just had to do things to differentiate us from our parents. Today's kids
would be disbelieving about this.

I recently attended a New Wine presentation at First Lutheran Church and was amazed at how clean, positive and respectful all these
kids were. If only my generation had been guided in such a way. Part of
the problem is we had just been through the Viet Nam War. Our parents
fought "the good war" of World War II but we got stuck with the Viet Nam
war. No volunteer military. We were fighting according to the
World War II model in a place where we didn't belong.

The Cold War seemed to make us all miserable. The school seemed to
give us too much homework. We got our faces pushed into algebra,
probably because of this national agenda of "competing with the
Russians."

Well, if the U.S. was depending on me to do this by learning
algebra, we were going to be in trouble. I never had any problem
learning basic arithmetic or multiplication tables. But I hit a wall
after that and it permanently affected my self-esteem.

Drugs and rock music might have been escapist for us. My generation
didn't buy the need for such conflict in the world. The Cold War seemed
much ado about not a whole lot. In protest we leaned leftward
politically, arguing the North Vietnamese didn't need to be demonized
(because of being "Communist"), nor the Russians really.

We felt we could all just get along. As it turned out, pure
Communism, whatever that was, faded because the people rose up. It
wasn't because of U.S. military intervention anywhere or our bravado
posturing.

We almost couldn't believe it when the Cold War ended. For that
matter, we couldn't believe it when inflation in the economy ended. I
could have sworn inflation was going to be with us forever. It made me
resigned about even trying to do a menial or low-level job, because
could our wages even keep up? A restaurant owner seemingly had to print a
new menu every few months.

Cynical movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" came at us, in which
authority figures could be portrayed as boobs (such as by Jackie
Gleason). Us young and hip people were nothing like them, naturally.

We played our stereos until the walls shook. We drank alcohol. Boys
learned to walk with a slouched posture. The most fashionable attire
could be described as "poverty stricken." Young people became so
alienated from the mainstream Christian religious denominations, we had
an organization in Morris called Young Life, the expressed purpose of
which was to try to get kids interested again.

Young Life was billed as separate from the established "fuddy
duddy" churches. A young person reading this (like a "New Winer") might
say "you've got to be kidding me." No, I'm not.

I remember one of the Young Life volunteers being Cindy Perkins who
then had her maiden name. I was enlisted to cover this group (i.e. to
promote it) through the print media. The parents of that time (like Dale
Stoebe and Ed LaFave Jr.) were trying to get kids to be idealistic
again. Hats off to them.

Our culture steadily improved through the 1980s. Ronald Reagan,
assailed by the smartass element of my generation at first, led a pretty
impressive recovery in our values.

We can never predict the future. But we can certainly forget the "correct" way to hold a marijuana cigarette.

Summer scenes around Morris, 2012

Click on the image to view a Flickr album of photos taken around the Morris area in the warm weather months of 2012. This group includes photos taken at the 2012 UMM graduation. The image above taken near Perkins Lake was chosen for display in the "Minnesota Explorers" Flickr gallery which is linked to Rick Kupchella's "Bring Me the News" MN website. Also chosen was a field of sunflowers photo I took. I'm delighted to have such platforms available. - B.W.

Past MACA Tiger football photos:

City of Morris perspective:

Pin it on your chest!

Click on the above image to access our "City Data" page.

Morris Theater - morris mn

Click on this image to read thoughts/reflections on our Morris Theater, which is hanging on through changing times (as a co-op). There is a link at the bottom of this post to read part 2 as well. These posts were written in spring of 2010 so there are some dated references. Any Morris native can spin some fond recollections of enjoying cinema fare there with friends.

Enjoy some fall scenery around Morris:

Enjoy some winter scenes around Morris:

Sam Smith statue - morris mn

Click on the image to read about the Sam Smith "running rifleman" statue at Summit Cemetery. This post explores the life of Samuel Smith, early Morris resident. He fought for the Union cause in several major engagements in the Civil War. The statue is patterned after the statue for the First Minnesota Regiment at Gettysburg National Park. This post is the newest of three that I have written about Sam Smith. I consider it the most comprehensive about the man. The statue can be an overlooked landmark of Morris MN. Everyone here ought to be familiar with it. Smith raised a large family north of Morris.

The first building here

In 1871 the first building erected within the village of Morris was the headquarters of the chief engineer of the railroad, C.H.F. Morris. With the railroad came the people.

The WCROC overlook

A nice view to the west is afforded from the WCROC overlook. It's a relatively new feature of the WCROC grounds. Specifically it's part of the WCROC Horticulture Garden. Click on the image to reach the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) website. Les Lindor was instrumental in making the overlook a reality. He served the West Central Experiment Station (the entity predating the WCROC) as ag engineer.

Stay informed about Stevens County MN:

Morris' music mecca:

Words to live by

This original and popular sign can be seen from the highway between Morris and Cyrus. It's associated with the late Dan Helberg. There used to be a sculpture next to it but perhaps it was removed due to legal restrictions (i.e. as a distraction). The sign has the thumbs-up for which we are grateful. Let's always heed these words.

Some spring/summer photo scenes:

The bike trail system

Call it both a walking and bicycling trail. It snakes along both the east and west sides of our Pomme de Terre River. You can do a complete lap which reportedly measures 4 1/2 miles. It's a fitness challenge for those willing to push their bodies a little! This photo was taken on the east side of the river, heading toward Lake Crissey (a wide spot on the river). Spring is a great time to get out there.

Our area's history:

Remembering "ag school"

From the time it accepted its first class in 1910, until it graduated its final class of seniors in 1963, over 7,000 students attended the West Central School of Agriculture. The precursor of the U of M-Morris, it opened its doors to its first class of 103 students in October of 1910.

Wildflowers out by the river

Click on this image to reach the "Minnesota wildflowers" website. This photo was taken on the west side of our Pomme de Terre River.

Before the current library

In 1921 the Stevens County Memorial Armory was built on the 100 block of East 6th Street, the site which is now occupied by the Morris Public Library.1969 saw the opening of the new Morris Public Library on the site of the old armory, leaving vacant the Carnegie building. The Historical Society found a new home in the Carnegie building in 1970.

A suggested restaurant

About Me

Brian Williams is a former writer in the Morris "dead tree" media who plies his pastime in the wonderful, liberating new media today. He refuses to consider himself an alternative journalist because the web is now the mainstream. Newspapers are in rapid retreat and it won't be long before they will exist in vestigial form only. Print media will not die because as a media observer put it: "We will always have print media for as long as there's a 'print' button on your computer." A once weekly newspaper (like in Morris) won't cut it. It's not consistent with our instant gratification culture. But the media are blossoming more than ever thanks to all the new tools. It's an uplifting, "green" new universe. Key word suggestions: morris mn - hancock mn - donnelly mn - cyrus mn - chokio mn - alberta mn - 56267 - stevens county - morris theater mn - morris area tigers - hancock owls.

Buy a car:

Pomme de Terre or Perkins?

Most maps identify it as "Perkins Lake" but it's known as Pomme de Terre to many local residents. The sign at the entry to the lake access uses the Pomme de Terre term, so that seems legitimate. This lake is part of a chain that represent wide spots on the Pomme de Terre River. Pomme de Terre Lake is useful for recreation and fishing, plus there are many fine residences along the shoreline. The chain is located several miles north of Morris.

A Destiny Driver. . .

"I Love Morris" is consistent with one of the "destiny drivers" as articulated by Stevens Forward! (named for Stevens County): "By 2010 we will enhance our interconnectedness by better utilizing the technology infrastructure to create a virtual community." (2010 is already here but this is always a "work in progress!")

We're the "Storm" in hockey

Click on this image to reach the official website of the Morris Benson Area "Storm" hockey program. Of course it's "MBA" for short. In Morris these teams play at the Lee Community Center, next to the fairgrounds.

B.W.'s country music memories, 1996-97:

Your Congressman:

Maintain perspective:

Main street of Morris mn

Atlantic Avenue is the main street of Morris and it's typically abuzz. Click on the above image to reach the Stevens County Economic Improvement Commission website.

Gager's Station

The first stopping place in Stevens County was Gager's Station, considered by some historians to be one of the more important stopping plces on the Wadsworth Trail. The station was nestled among the trees near Wintermute Lake.

VIDEO CLIPS

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The Eagles huddle

Blue is the color of the Morris amateur baseball team which goes by the nickname "Eagles." They're pictured about to break a pre-game huddle at their home: Chizek Field, named for the late Don Chizek who coached the Morris High Tigers for many years. The Tigers now have their own veteran coach in Lyle Rambow. Lyle had a successful playing career with the Eagles.

RIP jazz band leaders:

Best dog you could own:

"Dog is my co-pilot":

Superb early-morning TV:

Wind turbines - morris mn

There are two grand wind turbines such as this one on the eastern edge of Morris. It appears glistening white in this photo but they often are dark, silhouetted against the bright sky. A photographer never tires of them. They have become sustainable symbols of the community.

A trail of long ago here

The Wadsworth Trail was established by the U.S. Government in 1864 to transport supplies from St. Cloud to Fort Wadsworth, west of present day Sisseton, South Dakota.

No longer just a comedian:

She's upstaging Jim Klobuchar now:

Visit our McDonald's

It's a hotspot for dependable fast food and, just as important, socializing: our McDonald's Restaurant on the north end of Atlantic Avenue.

Our park in west Morris

Wells Park, located near Pacific Avenue and West 11th Street, was established in 1916 on land donated to the city by Henry Wells (a successful businessman and land investor) and Margaret Hulburd. Additional land was donated in 1935 by the Wells Investment Company, and in 1980 by Grace Zamerow.